As fellows for the Design Trust for Public Space's Laying the Groundwork: Vibrant Street Life for Affordable Housing project, Hayes Slade and James Slade will work to create a set of guidelines that will address the design and use of new ground-floor retail spaces by the NYC Department of Housing and Preservation and Development (HPD). With Mayor de Blasio's new ten-year plan to create or preserve 200,000 affordable housing units across the five boroughs and HPD's focus on mixed-use development initiatives, HPD is reaching unprecedented levels of retail space production. Laying the Groundwork: Vibrant Street Life will ensure that new mixed-use developments include the kind of spacious, flexible storefronts that can attract local entrepreneurs, provide vital services like banks and grocers as well as cultural amenities, while supporting active and vibrant streets.